Christmas gifts in Barcelona!
DanielHello everyone,
How are you? Hope you’re doing great!
As the Christmas time already has begun in Barcelona, I would like to tell you something about the traditional Christmas sweets of Spain during this period.
If you don’t know what to buy for your friends and families, read carefully the following. 
It could be a good opportunity for a gift!
There are two famous sweets in Spain during Christmas time: “el turrón” and “el polvorón”. These popular sweets are especially available on Christmas time and not during any other period.
The “turrón” is a nougat bar, typically made of honey, sugar, and egg white, coated in crushed, toasted almonds. It’s usually shaped into a rectangular tablet or a round cake. It is mostly consumed as a traditional dessert for Christmas.
There are many variations on this product. The most famous ones are the “turrones de Alicante”, the “turrones de Jijona” and the “turrón de Yema“, which is made out of egg yolk and sugar. The “turrón de Alicante” is a block of whole almonds made of eggs, honey and sugar, as I described it before. The main difference between the “turrón de Alicante” and the “turón de Jijona” is, that the latter is more chewy.
In recent years there has been a great variety and nowadays it is possible to find a great selection of flavours: For example, the “turrón de mazapán”, a confection of marzipan with candied fruits, and the “turrón de coco”, all kinds of chocolate pralines, with or without liquor, candied fruits or whole nuts, fruit pralines, and even sugarless variations.
Now, I will turn to the “polvorones”…
The “polvorón” is a typical product of the Christmas bakery in Andalusia. The most famous ones are the “polvorones” of the township Estepa, in the province of Seville. There are also the popular “polvorones del toro de la vega” manufactured in the ‘Castille and Leon’ village of “Tordellillas”.
Normally the “polvorones” are made of flour, pork fat, sugar and ground almonds. If you like, you can add different ingredients as grated coconut, cinnamon, sesame, etc. It is usually served on a plate with pieces of nougat.
If you don’t know where to buy those delicious sweets, I discovered a great bakery shop close to the Picasso Museum. It is called Brunnels and believe me, it’s worth a visit! Here you have the address: Brunnels C/Princesa, 22 08003 Barcelona Tel.: 933196825
I hope you got an idea about what to buy for your friends on Christmas!
See you soon, Daniel
December 10th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
That sounds yummy. “Turrones” are very typical in Italy too and now I am really curious to taste the Spanish version and find out which one is better! I will let you know…
December 12th, 2007 at 11:59 am
Hmm I´m not sure if I like the polvorones with pork fat!? Is it supposed to be sweet or savoury?
But the Turrón on the other hand sounds delicious. I think I might take a peek at that bakery shop you mentioned
Thanks for the tips!
December 12th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Hello,
Silvia, you have to taste a turrón of the label “Suchard”. They make the best turrones I’ve ever tasted!
December 12th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Hi Michelle,
most sweets are normally made of fat, in this case: pork fat. The polvorones and the turrones are very sweet! See you, Daniel
December 19th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Aha! I did not know that most sweets are made of fat. So another lesson learned! And in that case, I will definetely try the polvorones as well
Thanks for the explanation Daniel!